An uprooted tree rests in a roof at the home of William Sword, a 61-year-old Princeton Township resident killed in Hurricane Sandy Monday night. Alex Zdan/The Times

PRINCETON TOWNSHIP — William Sword Jr., the 61-year-old investment banker who died during Hurricane Sandy after being struck by a tree, was a well-liked lifelong resident of the township.

“He was a very well-respected, well-connected guy, an old-school gentleman in every sense of the word,” Daniel B. Rowe, Sword’s co-managing director at Wm Sword & Co., said in an interview Wednesday. “He was a righteous person who was very charitable. He’s literally got dozens of friends and business colleagues who have reached out to me and the firm since they heard,” Rowe said.

William Sword Jr. became trapped under a fallen tree Monday night around 8:30 p.m. after going outside along with a neighbor to clean debris off his driveway on the 1000 block of Great Road, police said.

“I’m assuming he felt there was a threat to his house, and he was trying to clean some of the trees and debris,” said Princeton Borough Capt. Nick Sutter, who was handling press releases for both municipalities as part of the township and borough’s joint emergency operations center.

The tree fell directly on top of Sword, entrapping him and causing severe injuries. Princeton First Aid and Rescue Squad initiated life saving measures that proved to be unsuccessful, police said. Sword was pronounced dead at the scene.

The neighbor was uninjured, and police believe Sword simply could not get out of the way of the massive tree in time.

“It was just a tragic, tragic, unfortunate circumstance,” Sutter said.

Sword joined Wm Sword & Co. in 1976 after graduating from Princeton University and was serving as the head of the company.

The company was started by his father, William Sword, in 1976. Sword’s father, who died in 2005, helped start Morgan Stanley’s mergers and acquisitions department but left in the 1970s to form his namesake firm.

According to the company’s website, Wm Sword & Co.’s projects included developing a private-equity investment program for Capital Cities Capital, a subsidiary of Capital Cities/ABC, now part of the Walt Disney Co.; advising Thomson Corp. in the sale of Thomson Financial Treasury Solutions to the ABS Group in 2001; and raising funds for Aquiline Capital Partners, a private-equity firm founded by Jeffrey Greenberg after he left Marsh & McLennan.

In 2003, Sword suffered a collapsed lung and multiple stab wounds after being attacked in his home by an emotionally disturbed stranger, which changed his outlook on life, Rowe said.

The brush with violence made Sword more of “a lover of life,” slightly less ambitious and more appreciative of time with friends, Rowe said.

Jelani Manigault, 24, a senior at the University of Maryland, had been spending the night with his parents and girlfriend at the Tenacre Foundation Christian Science retreat house.

Manigault was spending time at the retreat to recuperate as he had been experiencing emotional troubles that were preventing him from returning to college.

Manigault became agitated, took his parent’s car and crashed it near Sword’s house.
Manigault then made his way to Sword’s house, where the apparently distraught man was invited in. He pushed his way into the kitchen and began stabbing Sword with a 12 inch kitchen knife, police said.

When police arrived on scene, the found Manigault outside, still holding the knife. Police shot and killed Manigault when he refused to drop the weapon and lunged at a police officer.

A lifelong Princeton resident, Sword and his wife, the former Martha Sullivan, had two daughters, Gretchen and Hope, and a son, Will, Rowe said.

His neighbors remembered a polite man who mostly kept to himself and his family.

“We knew of him,” said John Dilluvio. “We always would say hi and stuff.”

A tree remained uprooted and leaning on the roof of Sword’s home yesterday afternoon. A 3 foot wide tree stump was next to the driveway, with freshly cut cords of wood stacked on the lawn.

“All I know is, I wouldn’t have been out there in that storm,” Dilluvio said.